Santa Giustina Barbera Colli Piacentini

Santa Giustina Barbera Colli Piacentini would be a good wine to sip alongside pasta or pizza with red sauce, grilled meats and veggies,

Ted Scheffler

January 27, 2023

In this week’s Scheff’s Table column, I featured my recipe for pasta carbonara made with duck fat. It’s a deliciously decadent dish. Pairing wine with carbonara sauce can be tricky due to the creaminess of the sauce, smoky bacon, and salty cheese flavors. So I usually turn to a fruity, low-tannin red wine with a touch of acidity to cut through those creamy, cheesy, salty and smoky flavors. A perfect candidate is an inexpensive Barbera from Italy such as this week’s wine pick: Santa Giustina Barbera Colli Piacentini ($11.99).

This red wine is named for Santa Giustina, which is located in the far northwestern corner of Emilia-Romagna in Italy. The region is well-known for its Barbera grapes, which are fresh, fruity, acidic, and elegant.

According to the winery, after a gentle pressing of the grapes which were hand-harvested, “About a 20-day fermentation and maceration on the skins takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel, before a couple months rest prior to bottling. The final result is intense and elegant all at the same time.” It’s a clean wine that sees no oak.

The bouquet is mostly cherries with hints of blueberry and bright fruit flavors follow on the tongue, with a somewhat surprisingly full-bodied mouthfeel.

In addition to pasta carbonara, Santa Giustina Barbera Colli Piacentini would be a good wine to sip alongside pasta or pizza with red sauce, grilled meats and veggies,

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Originally trained as an anthropologist, Ted Scheffler is a seasoned food, wine & travel writer based in Utah. He loves cooking, skiing, and spends an inordinate amount of time tending to his ever-growing herd of guitars and amplifiers.

Sips, Utah Bites

Italian wine, wine recommendation

Ted Scheffler

Originally trained as an anthropologist, Ted Scheffler is a seasoned food, wine, and travel writer based in Utah. He loves cooking, skiing, music, and reading, and spends an inordinate amount of time tending to his ever-growing herd of guitars and amplifiers. Ted is also the author of the Utah Bites newsletter, which is published in partnership with Utah Stories. Before moving to Utah, Ted lived in New York City, and numerous states in the US, as well as in various countries overseas, Spain, Japan, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico. He earned a Master’s Degree in Anthropology from the Graduate Faculty of The New School for Social Research.

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